South Dakota State slips past Illinois State in overtime, 27-24

Highlights from the South Dakota State Jackrabbits overtime win against the Illinois State Redbirds.

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South Dakota State’s Taryn Christion (3) scrambles away from pressure during the second quarter of the Jackrabbits’ 27-24 overtime win over Illinois State Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.(Photo: Jason Salzman / For the Argus Leader)Buy Photo

BROOKINGS – Illinois State came to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday in something close to desperation mode. They have six wins, need one more for a shot at the playoffs, and play No. 6 North Dakota State after playing 5th-ranked South Dakota State.

And SDSU has had some difficulty handling teams facing must-win situations in recent years.

It was not surprising, then, that the 20th-ranked Redbirds fought back from an early 10-point deficit to take the Jackrabbits to the 12th round and beyond in yet another battle of ranked Missouri Valley Football Conference teams.

The Jacks had control and lost it, and when they lost it, they struggled to get it back. But thanks to a pair of former Roosevelt Rough Riders, SDSU escaped with a 27-24 overtime win that might’ve been too close for comfort, but saw John Stiegelmeier’s team find a way to win on what wasn’t their best day.

“We handled adversity,” the coach said.

After Illinois State got the ball first in overtime and missed a 39-yard field goal, Chase Vinatieri drilled a 43-yard walk-off to win it. That came following Taryn Christion’s 85-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, one that shook the Jacks (8-2) out of an offensive funk and gave them their first lead of the second half.

Vinatieri’s offensive teammates didn’t do anything to make his job easier, going one yard backwards on their three overtime snaps. But he drilled the kick anyway, as holder Brady Hale leapt to his feet with arms raised in triumph almost immediately after the kick left Vinatieri’s foot.

“That’s my job, that’s what I came here to do,” said Vinatieri, who’s now 8-for-9 on the year on field goals, including 4-for-4 from past 40 yards. “I have to give credit to (Hale) and (longsnapper) Bradey Sorenson – we talked about in the third quarter – be ready boys, this might come down to a game-winning field goal, and it did.”

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The post game press conference for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits after defeating the Illinois State Redbirds, 27-24 in overtime.

Still, the play of the game was Christion’s run. After his touchdown pass to Jacob Brown gave the Jacks a 17-7 lead late in the second quarter, the Redbirds (6-4) found a way to corral the SDSU offense for much of the third quarter and into the fourth. With the score tied at 17 with eight minutes to go, SDSU’s quarterback simply took matters into his own hands.

Christion darted into an open space in midfield and saw nothing but daylight, but rather than head for the sideline or slide, Christion found another gear and outraced the Redbird defense for the score, his second run of 80-plus yards this season. It was visibly apparent that Christion made up his mind during the run that he was not going to be stopped until he found the end zone.

“I knew I had a chance to score, so it was just, ‘I’m gonna get there, I’m gonna give it my all’,” said Christion, who threw for 172 yards and ran for 110. “Because, I mean, we were struggling a little bit. We needed to make a play so I gave it everything I had and was able to get there.”

The Jacks couldn’t make it stick, with the Redbirds driving for a game-tying score before the end of regulation, but the overtime went their way.

‘D’ steps up following kick return

The Jacks might have been able to cruise to victory were it not for a 100-yard kickoff return by Redbirds freshman Christian Uphoff before half. He took the kick five yards deep and somehow emerged from a pile of bodies inside the 20-yard line, then raced down the sideline for a score.

SDSU then went three-and-out, and the Redbirds added a field goal before half. The Jacks couldn’t recover the momentum until Christion’s 85-yard run in the fourth.

“Absolutely huge,” said ISU coach Brock Spack. “That was our big play in the game that swung momentum back to us. You could feel it slipping away a little bit (before that).”

The offense went into a midgame slump after that, but the defense picked them up. They faced a surprise starting quarterback in scrambling freshman Malachi Broadnax, and while the Jacks had prepared all week for veteran pocket passer Jake Kolbe, SDSU handled the switch admirably. They forced two fumbles, recorded four sacks (two by Ryan Earith) and registered 10 tackles for loss.

Most importantly, they gave the offense time to find its footing.

“That’s our job,” said nose tackle Kellen Soulek, who had five tackles and a sack. “If they don’t score they don’t win. We said as a defense ‘what would a championship team do here? We have to rise up here.’ It can’t just be on the offense, it’s got to be on the defense, too.”

It is, for the second year in a row, a season in which the Jacks have overcome a stretch that had some of their fans panicking to put together a winning streak that sets them up for a postseason run. They have yet another stiff test awaiting them, as USD has its best team since going to Division I and will be hungry as ever to get their first win over the Jacks in that time.

But Stiegelmeier seems amused by any suggestion that the season can be broken into parts good and bad. They’ve stayed the course since August.

“Unless you’re in the locker room – I don’t think things were ever shook up,” Stiegelmeier said. “I talked to a lot of people in the media who thought things were shook up, but I feel really good about our team. We want to finish strong.